April 1, 2010 - And the Winner is.................

And the winner is.......Turkey.





In August, I asked the universe where I should travel this summer. After eight months of voting, the answer is Turkey. At least, that's what the universe told me as late at February, when I noticed that the 100-plus votes on my polls were decreasing, rather than increasing (See March 7 post "Blogger Glitch").

I immediately reported the problem to Google, which runs Blogger. Problems are only addressed by posting them on a help forum. You can see my post at this link. Since Google never fixed my polls, I felt that I had no other choice but to honor the leading vote getters at the time of the malfunction.

Prior to the malfunction, on the question of which country to visit, Turkey was the leading vote getter by a slim margin over Egypt and Australia. As far as charities, Doctors Without Borders was the overwhelming vote getter, followed by Catholic Relief Services and Save the Children.

Again, I'm sorry for the glitch, but I can assure you that it was totally out of my control. I hope everyone is satisfied with this solution.




So the world wants me to visit Turkey this summer.

I've always been fascinated by the country because I've read that the culture is a mix of European, Ottoman, Middle Eastern, and Asian traditions. That makes sense because geographically the country is a bridge between Europe and Asia. It also makes sense historically because the Ottoman Empire at its height stretched across three continents.

Now I know where I'm going, but I still need your help. As I've written before, this isn't only my trip. It belongs to the world. With that in mind, I need your suggestions on what to visit beyond just tourist attractions. It could be a place. It could be an organization that is doing noteworthy, positive work in Turkey, especially an organization that normally doesn't receive publicity. It could be a particular person that is making a difference in Turkey that you'd like the rest of the world to know about. It could be a cherished tradition.

I enjoy beaches, but it's hard to learn about any culture merely sitting by the ocean sipping drinks at a resort. The purpose of this trip is to delve into a culture I know nothing about and write about my discoveries. Wherever I visit, I will post the information on my blog, so that my students and the rest of us can all learn something about Turkey together.

I eagerly await your suggestions.

In addition to needing your help with suggestions, I also need your financial help to get to Turkey and to travel within the country. This blog is an experiment in benevolence, so I am starting my journey with no money and will travel only as far as the universe takes me.

You can donate by clicking on the PayPal button up above on the right-hand side of my blog.

I can assure you that I will spend the money wisely. I've always preferred traveling frugally by throwing on a backpack, utilizing public transportation, and staying in basic, locally-owned accommodations. That way, I feel good about supporting the local economy, and I have a better opportunity to actually get to know and to forge ties with the people who live there.

If anyone is uncomfortable giving me money, benevolence comes in many other forms. I would welcome and appreciate any private offers of meals, transportation, or accommodations, however simple they might be. Some of my best travel experiences have been staying with families, rather than in hotels, and I would love to share all of these experiences on my blog, as well.

If I don't have enough funds to buy an airline ticket by May 15, I will cancel the trip because I'm afraid if I wait any later than that, a last-minute plane ticket would be exorbitantly priced, which would be unfair to my donors. In such a scenario, I would send all of the money that I'd received to the charities Doctors Without Borders, Catholic Relief Services, and Save the Children.

To some, this journey might sound ludicrous, but as I keep telling my students, I believe that the world is made up mainly of kind, generous, trustworthy people. I am maintaining my belief that enough of these people will come to my assistance. I am maintaining my believe that a person can travel around the world relying on the generosity of strangers. I am maintaining my belief in miracles.

Regardless of what happens, I am already grateful for the response I've gotten from my blog. When I began this journey, I wanted to demonstrate to my students the power of a single person and a single idea.

Many of my kids come from impoverished backgrounds in foreign lands, so they lack some of the financial resources and personal connections and contacts that other kids take for granted. As a result, most of my students don't think that they can achieve such dreams as going to college or landing a good job or climbing the ladder of success.

This blog is one way I hope to show them that anything is possible.

Constantly, I tell my kids that any idea or dream can spread like ripples on a lake, regardless of how much money a person has or who he or she knows. I think this is especially true with the rise of the internet. That is why I decided to use the internet for my journey and why I've done no other fund-raising or sought any other forms of publicity, other than this blog.

If I had contacted media outlets or companies or sought help from influential people, then this endeavor would have become an exercise in my personal abilities and my perseverance. I would have been controlling the ripples, rather than giving up control to the universe and letting the ripples spread where they may, through the actions and good will of others.

In addition to my 9th grade ESOL English class of 15 students, I have still told only six people about this blog. Yet, I'm amazed that I've gotten more than 1,400 hits on my site from 35 states and 23 countries, as far north as Russia, as far south as Argentina, as far east as Japan, and as far west as Tonga.

Although the ripples continue to spread, so far, I've received only $34.05 in donations. I'm reminded of a joke that my student, Juan, made back in September when I told the class how much I had collected. With a grin on this face, Juan said, "Mister! Now you really do have enough money to take a trip - to McDonald's."

Not many people, including my students, think I'll raise enough money to get to Turkey, but I believe I will, even though I have less than a month and half to do so before the May 15 deadline.

My dream is that the universe will send me to Turkey, so that I can share my discoveries with my students and my blog readers; that I will have enough money left over after the trip to donate to the three charities; and, in the process, that maybe one of my students or even an adult will be motivated to pursue his or her own dreams.

Is my dream impossible? I don’t think so because the words of John Updike keep echoing in my head - "Dreams come true. Without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them."

The original question that I asked back in August remains unanswered - Can a person travel around the world relying on the generosity of strangers? I know it's possible, but I need your help.